Lease pact OK’d for Alexander Inn

The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board met recently in a special meeting with one purpose — to decide the fate of the Alexander Inn.

by Beverly Majors/Staff

The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board met recently in a special meeting with one purpose — to decide the fate of the Alexander Inn.

IDB Chairman David Wilson said the nine-member board approved, “with minimal discussion,” a 10-year lease agreement with the Family Pride Corp. of Loudon to turn the old Guest House into a senior living facility.

“The 10-year-lease coincides with a tax abatement on the property,” Wilson told The Oak Ridger. “In order to have a tax abatement, the IDB has to own the property.”

Wilson said as soon as Family Pride closes on its purchase of the Inn, it will be transferred to the IDB.

“The IDB will lease it right back to them,” Wilson said. At that point, Family Pride can start construction.

The IDB chairman said officials with Family Pride estimate the project will take from 16 to 18 months to complete and then “be ready to do business.”

“In the meantime, the Alexander Inn will pay the same annual property tax,” he said. The property tax currently generated is about $4,000 annually.

“The Alexander Senior Living will pay full taxes after 10 years, based on property value,” Wilson said. “Plus, it will be refurbished, making it virtually brand new. It will have (salaried employees), who we hope will live and buy in Oak Ridge.

“When that happens it always turns out to be a win-win for the citizens of Oak Ridge,” he said. “And, we get to save one building that has some historic significance for the city.”

The City Council approved the measure in October after IDB recommended the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement.

The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association worked for several years to save the building, which was built in the city’s Manhattan Project era. The building has deteriorated to an unsafe level because of the lack of repair over the years.

The Department of Energy has committed a $500,000 grant to help in the preservation of the Inn as part of a K-25 memorandum of understanding.

“IDB complete its process and the documents are prepared, and we’re ready to go forward,” said Family Pride’s Rick Dover. “We’re excited about that.”

Dover said the Alexander Inn is “the ideal layout for this conversion,” meaning from hotel to senior living facility.

He said some structure issues have to be addressed immediately and that it would take about 90 days for permits to be in place for work to get started.

“In my 18 years with Family Pride, I can’t recall when a community has been so supportive of getting a building restored and brought back to life,” he said of Oak Ridge. “We’re seeing the passion Oak Ridgers have for this building.”

Dover said he and other officials had talked to city historian Bill Wilcox and others about naming the new facility when complete. Currently, Family Pride is using the “working name Guest House/Alexander Inn Senior Living.”

Guest House was the original name and was changed to the Alexander Inn in 1953 under a new owner.

“We want to honor both names,” he said, adding that a new name had not yet been determined.